The present invention relates to analytical furnaces, and more particularly to window assemblies for such furnaces.
A wide variety of analytical furnaces have been developed to provide analysis of material samples under controlled atmosphere and temperature. Often, the furnaces include windows permitting the operator to directly or indirectly visually monitor the sample materials during analysis. These windows typically become rapidly contaminated, or fouled, because the sample material components vaporize or otherwise enter the furnace atmosphere during analysis, leaving deposits on the windows. Consequently, the windows must be cleaned relatively frequently to provide the proper clarity required to view the furnace interior.
Known windows are relatively difficult to remove from the furnace for cleaning. In view of the necessitity of cleaning these windows daily in a commercial application, this results in excessive furnace down time and excessive labor to remove the window from the furnace and reinstall the window after cleaning. Further, because access to window assemblies is often aggravated by other portions of the furnace (e.g., heating electrodes, power wiring, and analytical apparatus), removal and reinstallation of the windows is further complicated.